lt_safe_house | (no subject)

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(no subject)

Date: May 2, early evening
Location: Raphael's room (110)
Status: Public - Complete
Summary: Rose still hasn't asked Raphael about keeping his feather

Rose stood in front of Raphael's door, the fiery red feather in her hair above her left ear. She still hadn't asked the angel if he minded her having his feather because she hadn't wanted to disturb his recovery. And then the nightmares had happened.

She shuddered and her right thigh throbbed a bit. The wounds were healing nicely but it would take a few days until she wouldn't feel them anymore. Thanks to Raphael only her thigh hurt and she didn't have to put her left arm in a sling.

Rose took another deep breath and knocked on the door.

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Raphael's behaviour made Rose sweat and her heart beat faster. Only when she heard that last sentence did her muscles relax a bit and a relieved breath left her mouth. She had been worried what would happen now. Raphael had saved her life so she couldn't really threaten to kill him if he ever told anyone. Besides, he was an angel and killing him might have drawn at least as much attention to her people as telling others would have. So Raphael's promise took a heavy burden off her shoulders.

"My thigh is alright. I heal quickly, in a few days it won't bother me at all."

Rose decided to be honest with Raphael.

"And I can't change as often as I'd like to anyway. Nobody can know about it so I have to be very careful. Gabriel's already suspicious of a large stray dog wandering around near the manor."

Not knowing how much Raphael knew about werewolves and not wanting him to worry about the safety of the inhabitants of the hotel, Rose decided to tell him a few things.

"I promise I won't harm anyone. I won't hunt anyone's pets and I'm sorry I frightened your bunny when you arrived. Joe's friend just dumped it in my arms before I could protest and it took in my scent and panicked. But it wasn't hurt. And those stories about werewolves biting and infecting people are just rubbish, it doesn't work like that, really."

Raphael gave a reassuring smile. "I know you mean no intentional harm, my dear. And Gabriel wouldn't harm you either, unless he felt you were attacking someone, then it would be out of defense. I havent been out much, but I do recall seeing a white dog around here." In fact... He peered from his window. Yes, he could see outside very well. "If you ever get 'stuck', where you need a place to transform or detransform, my door is always unlocked. Speaking of the bunny...

"I am aware that there is quite a bit of myth involving werewolves, just as it is with angels. But don't worry, I know you mean no harm, I can sense it." He smiled again, hoping she knew he was being completely honest.

"Gabriel mustn't ever know!"

Rose knew she looked frantic, but it was her duty to protect her people's secret. And that meant that no one could know. She knew that if someone who couldn't be trusted and who would endanger all werewolves it would be expected of her to kill that person before he or she could expose the wer.

Raphael had helped her, probably saved her life, and he felt trustworthy but that didn't mean that those roles didn't apply anymore to others. And she knew that she'd never be able to kill Gabriel or most of the other inhabitants of the manor, they were so much stronger than her, so her only way of protecting her people, her pack was secrecy.

"I'll have to be more careful with changing form if you already saw me. Maybe go farther away before I change. Nobody can know. It's too dangerous."

Changing inside the manor was out of the question, it was bad enough it had happened once, prooving to Raphael that he had been right.

"But thank you for the offer."

"Whoa whoa whoa! It's alright! I wasn't saying to go tell him, especially if you dont want him to know. The only reason I knew was because I'm the Patron Angel of Science and Knowledge. I'm sensitive to your biology so that I can heal when necessary. Don't worry. My offer stands if you change your mind, but don't feel pressured into it."

He sighed, wishing he could ease her fears. What had happened to the poor girl to have caused such a deep-rooted secrecy about her people?

It was none of his business, as it was, knowing her identities was probably enough of a step of faith for her. Not even that, more like a leap. "I'm sorry," he finally said, meaning it. He didnt know what else to say to her except that he truly was sorry and would never betray her or her people.

Rose smiled albeit a bit shakily.

"It's alright, just as long as you don't tell anyone."

Then she remembered her other reason for being here. She brought her left hand with the feather in it up.

"Um... there's something else. When I cleaned up after your arrival I kept this feather. It's just so beautiful. Gabriel told me later that it might be dangerous to you and he blessed this feather and the other bits of feathers I'd already dumped in the trash bin. I'm sorry for that, I mean I just didn't know what to do with those feathers.

Anyway, Gabriel told me I should better ask you if I could keep this feather..."

His heart went out to her, wishing so badly that he could help. Looking at the feather he smiled. One of my flight feathers... It would have come from the tips of his wing. "I would love for you to keep that. In fact..." He stood, reaching over to his dresser and pulling some clips down. He passed them to her. "So it'll stay it place wherever you choose to keep it."

Rose took the clips with a smile and put the feather in her hair again, above the left ear, securing the feather with one of the clips.

"Thank you. I really like this feather."

Then she hesitated a moment. She was curious but she wasn't sure if the angel would appreciate her question. Maybe he'd feel affronted? Still, she wouldn't know if she didn't ask.

"Um, not to be rude or something but... why do you smell of this disinfecting stuff? I mean, with Michael or Gabriel I get a more flowerey scent..."

Raphael was quiet for a moment before he spoke again. If Rose could tell him her secret, he could tell her his. "I was once a Healer," he said. "But my powers were stripped from me for my own protection. I still practice - I used to practice medicine. I suppose it clung to me," he added with an attempt of a chuckle.

So it was a superficial scent, like a perfume? Shouldn't it get weaker with time?

"I'm glad that you know so much about healing," Rose answered, touching her left collarbone with her fingers, "but I'm sorry that your powers were taken away."

Her eyes wandered over to one of his wings and her nose was itching with the wish to bury it in those feathers to determine their real scent. She inhaled deeply and caught a whiff of something else without being able to immediately place it.

"I could show you better than I could tell you." He moved closer and curled his wing to her. Raphael then reached over and pulled back a few feathers. Tiny red embers, like glistening rubies, were shimmering at the roots. "Its the Holy Fire," he explained. "I have no powers anymore but theres a tiny bit of residual energy in my wings. In an emergency I could sacrifice a wing to heal someone, but hopefully it wouldn't come to that." He smiled at her, compassion in his eyes. "It won't be in the feather you have, so dont worry about it burnint your hair. Did Gabriel seal it? I can sense his aura in it."

Rose watched those dots of red - Holy Fire - with wide eyes. She unconsciously reached out one hand to touch the wings and drew it back as soon as she noticed.

"I really hope you never have to sacrifice one of these beautiful wings."

Her other hand went to the feather in her hair.

"Gabriel blessed it the day you arrived. I met him in the evening and he told me that you were weakened by your injuries and that it would be dangerous to have feathers with your aura in them lying around. So he blessed this feather and the bits of feathers in the trash bin."

He let his wings stretch further. "Its alright, you can pet my wings if you want." He probably should be a bit more careful who he let touch his wings, but he knew Rose wouldn't hurt him.

He chuckled slightly. "Holy trash? There's a new one." His eyes showed a glint of sadness, however. He had been such a mess when he arrived. He remembered the faces, the concern... His brothers force-feeding him even. What had Gabriel thought upon finding so many of his younger brother's feathers shed away?

"Thank you for that," he finally said, smiling warmly.

She needed no further invitation. Her fingers brushed the upper edge of the wing before she let her hand glide down to stroke the feathers.

"Yes, the holiest bit of trash ever I suppose. Now I know I should just have asked one of you angels about the bits of feathers..."

Rose's voice trailed of while she was threading her fingers through Raphael's feathers. It wasn't quite like grooming one of her pack mates but it was as close as she could get here and it felt nice.

Raphael loved to have his wings groomed, and a low purr escaped his throat before he could stop it. His cheeks colored a bit. "Sorry," he said, but he made no move to pull his wings away.

"You didnt do anything wrong," Raphael said. "Most people just don't know about angel feathers and... and uhm..." He trailed off into another deep purr, his treacherous wing pressing into her touch.

A smile tugged at Rose's lips as she heard Raphael purr. She knew all too well how good a grooming could feel. So she continued threading her fingers through the soft feathers.

"It's alright, it's a bit like grooming one of my pack mates, my family, you know. Just that feathers feel different in my fingers than fur would. But I like it. I miss it."

That last admission was only a whisper. But how she missed curling up next to Storm and feeling him groom her fur enthusiastically...

Raphael's purr grew louder and more rhythmatic, closing his eyes and feeling as if he would melt into goo right then and there...

...until he fell out of his chair into a heap on the carpet.

Blinking a few times he stared up at Rose, making no move to stand back up. Instead he chuckled and yawned widely, stretching out his wings before curling up into one. He held out his other wing to her. "Snuggle?" he offered. After all, naps were best taken when there were plenty to cuddle.

Rose smiled fondly down at Raphael. It had been really cute, seeing him relax so much he dropped to the floor. And he didn't seem hurt, which had been a concern of hers.

She rubbed the edge of the offered wing gently.

"How about this: I groom this wing as well and then, if you don't mind, you get a furry, warm cushion..."

Cuddling was so much better in fur form. Not that she wasn't flexible in her two-legged form as well, but she was just more used to it as Cloud. Having the children lie in the grass, all snuggled into one big pile would have looked a lot more suspicious than said pile being made of adolescent farmdogs...

"No objections here," he purred. "I'd be more than happy to return the favor. Would you like to be brushed?"

Rose's smile transformed into a full-blown grin. If someone knocked on the door, Cloud would just have to hide in the bathroom or something...

"No objections here either. It's been a while since someone beside myself groomed my fur..."

She set to grooming the second wing, still gentle despite her eagerness to be groomed as well. Only when she was sure she hadn't left out a single feather she slipped off her shoes and clothes and changed into Cloud. Cloud looked at Raphael, tail wagging.

Raphael grinned and moved to lock his door. If someone had walked in he would have claimed the animal as his own and no one would have batted an eyelash, but it was for Rose's comfort that he did that. Anyway, he wasn't sure how his friend would feel about him stating Cloud was "his", regardless of the reason. Pulling a soft brush from the dresser he flopped onto the bed and patted the comforter. "Come on up, Cloud," he smiled.

Cloud waited for Raphael to settle and then jumped up on the bed, lying down across the angel's legs, stretching her body to its full length so the brush would have access to every bit of fur. She wagged her tail and waited for the grooming to start.

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